The Food Industry Has High Hopes for Trump’s Anti-Regulation Agenda

Uh-oh.

“The food industry is moving to capitalize on the Trump administration’s anti-regulation agenda by seeking to delay or do away with Obama-era rules governing the disclosure of calories, sugar, fiber and serving size, according to petitions filed with the Food and Drug Administration.”

* “None of these rules has taken effect, and they have long been opposed by business groups that say they are a burden to industry. They’ve been championed by advocates in the public health space, who argue that the changes are long overdue and needed to help people eat healthfully.”

* “Industry groups have also asked the FDA to delay, by three years, the rollout of new food labels that would put serving size and calorie information in a large, boldfaced font and call out the amount of sugars that have been added to a product — changes that had been due to take effect in July 2018 for large companies, and July 2019 for smaller ones.”

* “Meanwhile, the American Bakers Association, a trade group that represents bread and snack companies, has asked the agency to rescind its new, stricter definition of dietary fiber, which had also been set to take effect in July 2018.”

* “Under the new definition, companies can count a synthetic substance as a dietary fiber only if the FDA has determined that it has “physiological effects that are beneficial to human health” — a provision that will, for the time being at least, prevent many synthetic fibers from getting the designation. In many processed foods, the rule will have the effect of cutting the displayed amount of fiber — and raising the displayed number of carbohydrates. And it will require that manufacturers prove to FDA that their synthetic fibers are beneficial.”

* “On Monday, a coalition of 19 public health groups — including the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network — sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees, urging them to oppose any budget riders that would seek to hold up menu labeling.”

* “The American Heart Association, meanwhile, has launched a social media campaign against delays to the Nutrition Facts label, encouraging supporters to tweet at Price and the FDA.”

This is precisely why we always talk about the importance of looking at potential sponsors’ and partners’ lobbying history. Any company that actively tries to stifle or delay public health policy (or belongs to a group that does that) clearly does not make public health a priority — no matter what a glossy brochure may claim.

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